Customs may rake in N10billion duty from seized Kano textiles.

By Funsho Olojo

The Nigeria Customs Service is expected to collect to collect a whopping sum of N10billion from the importers of the seized textiles materials in Kano.

It could be recalled that the Service raided and sealed up 75 warehouses suspected to contain smuggled textiles materials.

However, reprieve came the way of the importers, said to be five Chinese, as the Customs released the seized goods to them but asked them to pay the accruable duties.

The development followed the Federal government announcement that textiles and some other items, hitherto labeled contrabands goods , have all the delisted from import prohibition list.

Following this, the Customs said it has commenced assessment of Customs duty and other charges on the textile materials with a view to collecting the accrued revenue.

Wale Adeniyi, the National Public Relations Officer of the agency, in a release sent to Hallmark, disclosed that the assessment exercise was being coordinated by a Special Task Force comprising operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

The Customs spokesman stated that the directive to collect duty on the textile products was given by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dikko Abdullahi, following consultations with the Federal Government and importers of the items.

The imported items are currently discharged in warehouses sealed by the Nigeria Customs Service in various areas of Kano metropolis.

According to Adeniyi ,in the first warehouse opened for the  exercise,  14 importers turned up for assessment and duty payment for their textile items valued at about N1.5billion in the first week .The importers were expected to pay a combined import duty of N373, 307, 242.16.

‘’The assessment also showed that the goods are liable to the following additional charges:  N26,569,253.73 for  seven per cent surcharge, N14,243,212.64    for  one per cent CISS levy,    N6,767,022.49 for 0.5 per cent ETLS levy,  N59,154,231.65 for Textile levy, N95,527,905.15 for Value Added Tax.’’, he disclosed.

The Customs noted that total revenue payable on the first set of assessment stands at N576,161,369.17 while  another set of assessment worth over N600m  is pending on the outstanding textiles in the same warehouse.

According to the agency, the assessed items include 20,878 bales of printed African fabrics, 21,980 bales of high grade brocade materials,  6,127 bales of Lace  materials , 554 bales of polyester materials and 30 rolls of curtail  materials.

‘’The Comptroller-General of Customs’ decision to allow the importers of  the detained goods pay duty  is based on recent fiscal policy  review removing textile fabrics from import prohibition list . The move is also expected to shore up Government revenue, which has witnessed a  downturn in recent times’’, Adeniyi declared.

‘’Last month, 75 warehouses of assorted textile materials were sealed up in Kano by Customs anti-smuggling operatives , following months of  undercover operations and activation of local and international intelligence networks. The warehouses were operated by foreign  nationals using a handful of Nigerians as their guarantors.

‘’ In view of the organized nature of the smuggling syndicate, the  Comptroller-General of Customs, has called for  closer inter agency collaboration to curb the excesses of foreign  economic saboteurs who break our laws with impunity’’, the Customs image make concluded.